Woodie Information
- Thread starter N Assasin
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Hailing from the savage streetz of Northern California where crime, drugs & gangs are an epidemic, Antioch's Ryan Wood, aka Woodie, somehow manages to maintain and make the music he is best known for. Not long ago the outlook was bleak for Woodie as he became entangled in a web of gang violence, which wreaked havoc in the streets of Antioch, CA. Woodie lost close friends to the bloodshed and decided the best way to get ahead in this game was though his music.
Always knowing he had the talent and motivation, Woodie, with the blessing of his family & loved ones, dove head first into the rap game and finally decided to take his music seriously. With this in mind, he hit the lab with homies Lil' Los & Shadow and emerged with an 8 song EP and solo debut entitled YOC INFLUENCED.
Not aware of the overwhelming support that awaited him, he started out by pressing only 500 cassettes. Over the next month Woodie's music could be heard all over the Bay Area and his song "Norte Sidin" became a Northern Californian anthem. As the word of Woodie's music spread, the demand grew outta control. Woodie was unable to keep his album on the shelves as his albums started blowing out of stores. After selling well over 4,000 units independently, he then returned to the lab with executive producer D-Small to record East Co Co's subsequent release NORTHERN EXPOZURE Vol. 1, which also showcased Woodie's impressive production talents along with lyrical weaponry.
Soon after- fans and supporters from all over labeled both of these releases CLASSICS and news of this talented artist/producer quickly spread. Murder Dog Magazine's Black Dog Bone was instrumental in introducing Woodie to KOCH Records' Executive Vice President Alan Grumblatt. The rest is history.
As a survivor of gang violence in Northern California, enterprising Bay Area rapper Woodie has many reasons to be visited by Demonz in his Sleep. The demons of gang life visiting Woodie have continued to haunt him, in memories of fellow Nortenos killed in gun battles with rivals, and locked up by crooked police investigations -- his rhymes are full of references to Antioch, Yoc police -- who never seem to be able to catch up with him. It is wit this mindset that he assembled his next release Demonz In My Sleep for KOCH Records / In The Paint / East Co Co.
In the title track "Demonz In My Sleep," he writes- "I crack an Old-E to release and keep my mind in one piece/ Your sanity is hard to keep when fighting demons in your sleep/ I try to view my life in better ways, with bright sunny days/ But memories of dead homies invade, igniting my rage."
Antioch, or Yoc life, needs no explanation to anyone who has lived in this busy part of the Bay. In this large Delta city in Northern Cali, cops, gangstas, drug raids and shootings are all part of what Woodie describes as Yoc Life. Wood says he's been plagued by dreams of being shot. "That happens all the time; it's like a repetitive dream," Woodie says. "It's the same dream every time... sometimes a lot of crazy things will happen and I know it's a dream."
True to his pattern, Wood produced most of the tracks on Demonz In My Sleep, except three, "Northern California," "Off Night," and "Legit Slangz" that Street Flavor Records' DJ Dev and Shannon Sanders produced. He said most of the music is classic Woodie. Guests on Demonz include Woodie's roundup of artists from his independent crew: Lil' Los, Shadow, B-Dawg and Lou-E-Lou.
The new release explores some of the same topics haunting Wood for the past several years: the untimely death of his homie Carlos "Blackbird" Ramirez, shot to death alongside his two baby daughters in a standoff with Antioch police. And in "Pray For Me," he again pay homage to his blood brother Gabriel "Snoop" Roberson, locked away in Folsom Prison for life for a crime he says he did not commit. There, he addresses the Antioch Police Department:
"Seventeen million dollars over budget for new technology/ The public wants to know with an unsolved murder where their dollars be/ Scrutinized by the local press for the lack of solving crimes/ Is what led to the false arrest of Snoop to ease the public's mind/ Now he's doing 25 to life..."
Woodie got into rap when he was still a child. He remembers rapping other people's rhymes around the house when he was seven years old. He started writing his own rhymes at age 16 and began producing and locally marketing a string of self-produced CDs, including the ground-breaking "Yoc Influenced," a look at Yoc Life immortalized in tracks like "Callin' Your Bluff," "Norte Sidin," and "The Streets are Callin' Me."
And despite his run-ins with the law -- Wood is a felon who did time for attempted murder, which got knocked down to assault with a deadly weapon -- he still has plenty to say about the criminal justice system. He talks about goals of spending wads of money on criminal lawyers, and dealing with people who snitch to dirty cops, district attorneys and "public pretenders."
But despite the gang-banging, the women and the drinking (Olde English is closest to his heart), still some of Woodie's rhymes sneak into thoughtful messages of conscience. Demonz in My Sleep still has bits here and there referring to heaven and hell, the seven deadly sins, on the track "Pray For Me."
Woodie will emerge with his sophomore release entitled DEMONS N' MY SLEEP on In The Paint / East Co Co / KOCH Records. "KOCH is defiantly excited about this tremendous addition to our roster," added Cliff Cultreri, Senior VP and A&R at KOCH. "We are extremely amazed with Woodie's talents and look for him to become something big in this industry."
Always knowing he had the talent and motivation, Woodie, with the blessing of his family & loved ones, dove head first into the rap game and finally decided to take his music seriously. With this in mind, he hit the lab with homies Lil' Los & Shadow and emerged with an 8 song EP and solo debut entitled YOC INFLUENCED.
Not aware of the overwhelming support that awaited him, he started out by pressing only 500 cassettes. Over the next month Woodie's music could be heard all over the Bay Area and his song "Norte Sidin" became a Northern Californian anthem. As the word of Woodie's music spread, the demand grew outta control. Woodie was unable to keep his album on the shelves as his albums started blowing out of stores. After selling well over 4,000 units independently, he then returned to the lab with executive producer D-Small to record East Co Co's subsequent release NORTHERN EXPOZURE Vol. 1, which also showcased Woodie's impressive production talents along with lyrical weaponry.
Soon after- fans and supporters from all over labeled both of these releases CLASSICS and news of this talented artist/producer quickly spread. Murder Dog Magazine's Black Dog Bone was instrumental in introducing Woodie to KOCH Records' Executive Vice President Alan Grumblatt. The rest is history.
As a survivor of gang violence in Northern California, enterprising Bay Area rapper Woodie has many reasons to be visited by Demonz in his Sleep. The demons of gang life visiting Woodie have continued to haunt him, in memories of fellow Nortenos killed in gun battles with rivals, and locked up by crooked police investigations -- his rhymes are full of references to Antioch, Yoc police -- who never seem to be able to catch up with him. It is wit this mindset that he assembled his next release Demonz In My Sleep for KOCH Records / In The Paint / East Co Co.
In the title track "Demonz In My Sleep," he writes- "I crack an Old-E to release and keep my mind in one piece/ Your sanity is hard to keep when fighting demons in your sleep/ I try to view my life in better ways, with bright sunny days/ But memories of dead homies invade, igniting my rage."
Antioch, or Yoc life, needs no explanation to anyone who has lived in this busy part of the Bay. In this large Delta city in Northern Cali, cops, gangstas, drug raids and shootings are all part of what Woodie describes as Yoc Life. Wood says he's been plagued by dreams of being shot. "That happens all the time; it's like a repetitive dream," Woodie says. "It's the same dream every time... sometimes a lot of crazy things will happen and I know it's a dream."
True to his pattern, Wood produced most of the tracks on Demonz In My Sleep, except three, "Northern California," "Off Night," and "Legit Slangz" that Street Flavor Records' DJ Dev and Shannon Sanders produced. He said most of the music is classic Woodie. Guests on Demonz include Woodie's roundup of artists from his independent crew: Lil' Los, Shadow, B-Dawg and Lou-E-Lou.
The new release explores some of the same topics haunting Wood for the past several years: the untimely death of his homie Carlos "Blackbird" Ramirez, shot to death alongside his two baby daughters in a standoff with Antioch police. And in "Pray For Me," he again pay homage to his blood brother Gabriel "Snoop" Roberson, locked away in Folsom Prison for life for a crime he says he did not commit. There, he addresses the Antioch Police Department:
"Seventeen million dollars over budget for new technology/ The public wants to know with an unsolved murder where their dollars be/ Scrutinized by the local press for the lack of solving crimes/ Is what led to the false arrest of Snoop to ease the public's mind/ Now he's doing 25 to life..."
Woodie got into rap when he was still a child. He remembers rapping other people's rhymes around the house when he was seven years old. He started writing his own rhymes at age 16 and began producing and locally marketing a string of self-produced CDs, including the ground-breaking "Yoc Influenced," a look at Yoc Life immortalized in tracks like "Callin' Your Bluff," "Norte Sidin," and "The Streets are Callin' Me."
And despite his run-ins with the law -- Wood is a felon who did time for attempted murder, which got knocked down to assault with a deadly weapon -- he still has plenty to say about the criminal justice system. He talks about goals of spending wads of money on criminal lawyers, and dealing with people who snitch to dirty cops, district attorneys and "public pretenders."
But despite the gang-banging, the women and the drinking (Olde English is closest to his heart), still some of Woodie's rhymes sneak into thoughtful messages of conscience. Demonz in My Sleep still has bits here and there referring to heaven and hell, the seven deadly sins, on the track "Pray For Me."
Woodie will emerge with his sophomore release entitled DEMONS N' MY SLEEP on In The Paint / East Co Co / KOCH Records. "KOCH is defiantly excited about this tremendous addition to our roster," added Cliff Cultreri, Senior VP and A&R at KOCH. "We are extremely amazed with Woodie's talents and look for him to become something big in this industry."